[octobermoon]

i just don't know if i am going to or not. i'm not sure what to say in it. if i have my homebirth as planned i don'ti really need one. but if i had to transfer to the hospital i feel i will really need one there and am afraid of not having one if that does happen. i'm kind of overwhelmed by the idea of having to plan in case of transfer.

: are you doing one and where will you birth?

 

[dani76]

I will write something up and go over it with my doctor and husband. There is an extensive fill-in plan at Earth Mama Angel Baby that you can do. It looks like it really goes into detail.

 

[kismetbaby]

Don't know if I will have a birth plan per se. . .since I am also doing a homebirth. But I will certainly make my wishes about no or low intervention clear to my MW if we need to transfer. I will also be hiring a doula (my MW requires this for first timers), so I consider her to be my birthplan! As in, I will have many conversations with her about my wishes and hope that she will be my advocate in all situations. . .if all goes well, I mostly hope she will 1) help me, by reassuring me, keeping me calm, telling me things are going well, etc. and 2) help my DH know what to do by telling him to rub my back, or get me juice etc. He will likely be good at these things on his own, but I fear that he may get freaked out and not remember what to do to help me.

Might be good just for myself thought to write out what I hope for and what I don't want.

 

[octobermoon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dani76 There is an extensive fill-in plan at Earth Mama Angel Baby that you can do. It looks like it really goes into detail.

oh that is awesome..... thank you, i had not seen this.

 

[mom2tig99Nroo03]

i am, and at my birth center, i know they'd do their best to follow it. if i have to transfer care to the peri., i lose a lot of choices at the only hospitla they deliver at, or they make thigns VERY difficult for the mama and baby to leave together.

 

[2boyzmama]

Even if you're planning a home birth, writing a birth plan for the planned birth and in the event of a transfer will help you consider all your options. So it might be a good thing to do anyway. Realize that if you have to transfer, it is mostly likely going to be an emergent situation, and the hospital staff won't take the time to read your birth plan, so you need to be sure that whomever accompanies you to the hospital knows exactly what you do and don't want and can voice it for you.

I also found it helpful to write a bith plan for all contingencies, even a csection, again because it got me thinking about things I hadn't considered. I knew very little about csections, but as I started researching them to write that contingent birth plan, I learned there was a lot more I needed to know! Like the option of spinal vs epidural, after surgery pain relief, stitches vs staples vs steri strips (some of this might be practitioner preference and might be out of your control, but it's worth researching so if given a choice you are educated about it).

And talk to all your support people about what is truly important to you. For example, in my first birth my birth plan went out the window when the labor became complicated and interventions were necessary. BUT one thing that *was* left in my control was the fact that the baby got no formula, despite being in NICU after birth. It felt good to have one thing that I could cling to. But it took my husband standing up for our decision while I was left behind in the delivery room hemorrhaging and he went with our son to NICU. He said that he got into quite a little match with the neonatologist about it, too! I'm so thankful that he understood that it was really important to me.

 

[lil_stinkyfeet]

I am not, I have had the same MD deliver all of my kids and she knows me very well. Mostly I am not though because the ONE time I did it totally fell apart... My son was born not breathing and with respitory problems and basically everything that I had wanted didn't happen.

With the other two I didn't write one and everything went perfectly. Basically I don't want to jinx myself lol

 

[skydancer]

For my last birth (Fall of '07), my birth center required me to have a birth plan. I had to meet with a nurse there before the birth, go over my plan and my expectations for my stay, and take a tour (of course). I really liked the way it was done...it made me feel like I had a personal connection to the people who would be working with me for my birth.

Unfortunately, my practice has changed hospitals and now I'll be going to a different hospital. I will tweek my birth plan from last time, but most of it will remain the same. I have my pre-registration paperwork for the hospital filled out and need to send it in (they like to have it by the time you are 20 weeks), then I will begin looking into the options available to choose the setting within the hospital and take their tour, etc.

I really wish my practice hadn't switched!! I would even consider switching practices, but many of the obs in my area do not rotate in a way that ensures that someone you know will actually be there for the birth. To me, having a Dr. that you know and who knows you is more important than staying with a familiar hospital setting.

 

[b-girl]

For those planning a homebirth or birth center birth, will your midwife go with you and stay with you if you are transferred?

Upon our first meeting with our midwife she said that the times she's had to transfer a mother she always goes with them, and stays by their side until the baby is born. Which I really liked about her....

I did used to work as a RN in the Mother/Baby unit and I will say at the hospital I was at birth plans were pretty much laughed at by the staff. So unfortunate, but true.

 

[dosergirl]

i will probably have one. I am going to a birth center, but even still i would like everything written out. This way no one has to ask me anything, it's all there for my DP and mom to see and they can make sure those things happen for me.
i want to be able to concentrate on me and baby and not have people asking me things that i may or may not want.
also, it is great to plan in case of an emergency, if i get transfered, the birth plan will have my wishes as well.

 

[rosedoe]

I've actually been struggling with mine. If anyone wants to post theirs I'd appreciate looking at one. My husband has requested a personalized plan from me to him. Things I want him to do. Like remind me to drink so I don't get dehydrated and need an IV. I see my OBGYN on May 6th and I'm going to ask him if he wants a birth plan from me. He knows I don't want anything done and I'm not very worried about him. I'm more worried about the nurses at the hospital while I'm waiting on him. I'm going to write a short one page birth plan (my first was 5 pages long I doubt the hospital staff will ever read all of that) with just the basics (but I can't figure out how to word it polietly). I'm a very direct "Don't offer me drugs" person vs "I would perfer that pain relief not be offered to me." Even that doesn't sound right.

This is my first. I wanted to have an UC, but no one supported me in that and a homebirth got ousted as well and my sis is a neo natal nurse and sees all sorts of things come from the local birthing center so I'm stuck going to the hospital. I rather have family support in a hospital then no support at home. I made my choice, now I need to figure out how to live with it.

 

[noodlegirl]

I will at minimum write a transfer plan and c-section plan. I don't know that I will put anything in writing about the homebirth part though. I don't have a whole lot of preconcieved notions about how I want it to go and I know my midwife will be comfortable with most anything I would want to do.

 

[noodlegirl]

For those looking for an easy and simple birth plan that nurses will read, here is what I suggest to me clients. (this is a sample your please and no thank you requests may vary!) It is polite and all fits on one page. I suggest 3-6 of your top priority requests in each area.

Yes Please:
I would like intermitent monitoring.
I would like suggestions for position changes and I would like to push in a position of my choice.
I would like perienium support during pushing.

No ThanK You:
Please do not suggest pain meds unless I request the information.
I prefer to tear over having an episiotomy.
We do not want the Vit K shot.

 

[Julia24]

I didn't with my last two, but I'm contemplating it with this one - we have to go to a new hospital, and I'm just not sure how 'baby friendly' it is, iykwim. My husband pretty mcuh knows what I want though - and knows that he is on chief baby duty right after the birth, so I trust him to make sure things go as planned. (like - no hep b shot for the baby, baby stays in the room with us, I want oral vit K and I want them to wait on the eye **** for awhile - until I've had time to nurse at least once)

I guess I don't worry so much about the laboring - I have a big enough mouth that people generally know what my wishs are, and I'm not afraid to be loud and in charge about it....it's once I'm sitting there, kind of stuck, delivering a placenta or getting stitches that I feel a little out of control, yk? (with my brand new baby potentially being taken out of my arms and they start DOING things to her, yk?)

 

[BeanSprout Mama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by b-girl I did used to work as a RN in the Mother/Baby unit and I will say at the hospital I was at birth plans were pretty much laughed at by the staff. So unfortunate, but true.

Unfortunately very true. Sometimes it's because things are written in that are either impossible for us to accommodate or are things we do whether they are requested or not. At my hospital, though, written birth plans really do seem to be a jinx (which is why most of the staff dislike birth plans). It always seems like if someone has a written birth plan they end up with every intervention we have (and not on purpose!). It's very weird.

I won't write one because of the whole jinx issue. My husband is very clear on what I want, and so are my midwife and my friend who will come in to be my nurse when I go into labor.

 

[wendytthomas]

I will have one. It won't cover our planned UC. No point. It'll have a midwife assisted HB on it, my desires for a birthing center birth with midwives, then my hospital contingencies, including a c-section. That way I don't need to worry about discussing for the first time what my wishes are.

Wendy

 

[KayleeZoo]

I probably won't write one this time. With my other 3, I did and honestly, it didn't matter much. My OB and I had discussed things in detail ahead of time, and she knew what we wanted. The nurses honestly don't have time to read birth plans if the floor is busy. We found that just keeping open communication with the nurses worked to our advantage much better than handing them a piece of paper and saying, "Please read this". And in an emergent or stressful situation where it looks like things are about to become emergent, none of the staff is considering a birth plan, believe me. They are focusing on the issues at hand, and maternal preference really doesn't have much to do with it at that point.

With my 3rd baby, we had a major complication with me, and I wasn't fully coherent/conscious after DS was born. The nurse, who was slammed with 2 emergency C/S that day in addition to me, was going to take DS to the nursery for formula an hour after he was born because his blood glucose dropped. She and I had chatted about breastfeeding and I told her that I was big on nursing, and that I'd be nursing this baby, too. Of course I had NO FORMULA written in my BP, but she hadn't had time to read it. Our conversation led her to ask DH if they should try to latch the baby on to nurse or give him a bottle. Sometimes just chatting with the staff can be more beneficial than a formal plan.

 

[jimblejamble]

On the Earth Mama it says "If NST observation becomes necessary..."

What is NST? And what does it mean to have your membranes stripped? *gulp*

 

[jimblejamble]

What is PKU testing?! I feel so dumb!

 

[deymm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by b-girl For those planning a homebirth or birth center birth, will your midwife go with you and stay with you if you are transferred? Upon our first meeting with our midwife she said that the times she's had to transfer a mother she always goes with them, and stays by their side until the baby is born. Which I really liked about her....

yes, my midwife will go with us.